Rainbow Players cast members rehearse a scene Tuesday evening in preparation for presenting the Disney classic “Aladdin,” starting tonight and running through Sunday at the Showcase Theatre at the college. L&T photo/Chris Linenbroker

By VICTORIA CALDERON

• Leader & Times

The Rainbow Players are gracing the Seward County Community College/Area Technical School Showcase Theatre stage this weekend with their annual summer production. This year, they are performing the Disney classic “Aladdin,” but with a twist: parts of the musical will be in English, others in Spanish.

The show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday date will feature two performances, a matinee and an evening show.

Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens over the age of 65 and children 12 and under. Tickets may be purchased at Spencer Browne’s, First National Bank, from a cast or crew member or at the door.

The Rainbow Players are a non-profit theatre organization, and they raise most of their funds to produce shows through ticket purchases; so simply buying a ticket and attending the show will be beneficial to them.

“We only continue the work out of the generosity of our community,” the show’s director, Gloria Goodwin, said.

When looking for this year’s production, the Rainbow Players wanted a show that could include youth of the community in the process. They also wanted to appeal to a wide audience. So they gravitated towards Disney.

The dual language edition of “Aladdin” was first created and put together by the original writers of the film at Disney. It includes the Academy Award-winning music score from the movie, but it differs in that some of the lyrics stayed in English while other lyrics were translated into Spanish.

“They have done a masterful job of interweaving the languages so that anyone who speaks only English will still follow along and fully enjoy the show and anyone who speaks only Spanish will also,” Goodwin said. “It is something that could only be accomplished by the creative genius of Disney.”

Although the dual language edition stays true to the original film version, there were some adaptations that needed to be made to prepare it for the stage.

“Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ dual language edition features a revamped plot that creates dramatic necessity for the bilingual script,” Goodwin said. “Our story begins centuries ago, when the royalty of Agrabah spoke one language and the citizens another. Communication is impossible without translation – which is controlled by the evil vizier Jafar. When the rebellious princess, Jazmín, and a delinquent street rat, Aladdin, meet in the marketplace, they find something special in one another. Together they work to transcend the barriers between them, and with a little magic, help create a better future for themselves and for Agrabah.”

A few of the fun, unusual characters featured in the show include a tiger, a monkey and a parrot.

“Please come see this very special production. It is going to be big, colorful and exciting. I feel so lucky and honored to be a part of it all. This is an incredible cast and crew. It is going to be amazing,” Goodwin said.

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The High Plains Daily Leader and Southwest Daily Times are published Sunday through Friday and reaches homes throughout the Liberal, Kansas retail trade zone. The Leader & Times is the official newspaper of Seward County, USD No. 480, USD No. 483 and the cities of Liberal and Kismet. The Leader & Times is a member of the Liberal Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Press Association, the National Newspaper Association and the Associated Press.

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